In many consumer packaging applications, it is important to have paperboard or corrugated containers which are capable of being conveniently, yet securely, opened and reclosed repeatedly. Various approaches have been undertaken to address the repeated opening and closing/locking requirements by means of container designs using different types of interlocking flaps.
One exemplary recloseable container design, for instance, is described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,123 to Stone et al., issued Aug. 17, 1993 and entitled CARTON AND LINER TEAR-TAPE ASSEMBLY. The assembly includes a carton having opposing top and bottom walls, opposing front and back walls, and opposing side walls. The liner is constructed and arranged for placement within the carton so as to provide structural support to the carton. The liner includes opposing front and back panels and opposing side panels for fitting the liner snugly inside the carton.
Moreover, the liner includes a tear-tape material on an outside surface thereof, and the carton includes a guiding cut-scored section adjacent the tear-tape material. The assembly is provided with a two-part tab which includes a first part connected to the tear-tape material and a second part connected to the cut-scored section. A user grasps the tab to remove the tear-tape material and the guiding cut-scored section, thereby opening the carton from a sealed form to form a lid hingedly attached to a base section. After lifting up the lid, the lid is reclosed by pushing the lid back down to its original position. A frictional fit between the lid and the upper portion of the liner maintains the lid in the reclosed position.
As illustrated in FIG. 2 of the foregoing U.S. patent, the liner-carton assembly is manufactured from carton and liner blanks which are separately formed. More specifically, the carton blank is formed in one die-cutting and scoring operation, and the liner blank is formed in a second die-cutting and scoring operation. At a glue station, the liner blank is positioned over and adhered to the inner surface of the carton blank. With the liner blank and carton blank attached to each other, the liner blank is folded and glued into a four-sided tubular shape to form the liner. Finally, the carton blank is appropriately folded and glued about the formed liner to form the carton.
While the above manufacturing process has an acceptable production throughput, the process is still significantly slowed by the need to separately die-cut and score the liner blank and separately form that liner blank into the liner. As stated above, the liner blank must be formed in one die-cutting and scoring operation, while the carton blank is then formed in a second die-cutting and scoring operation. Each of these die-cutting and scoring operations takes time. Furthermore, the liner blank and the carton blank must be formed into the respective liner and carton using separate folding and gluing operations. Each of these folding and gluing operations takes time.
Accordingly, a need exists for a recloseable container which overcomes the aforementioned shortcomings associated with the above type of recloseable containers.